


Venture into the Spirit World

by teslasward



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Gaycation all I ever wanted, Gaycation gotta get away, spoilers for the finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 02:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2834243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teslasward/pseuds/teslasward
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami travel into the Spirit World.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Venture into the Spirit World

The flash she saw when they were transported hand-in-hand through the new portal was brighter than she’d ever imagined after years of hearing Jinora and the boys talking about the battle against Unalaq.  In an instant they were standing on a sweeping plain of violet flowers, spotted with the gnarled trunks of trees and flanked by immense mountains.  

 

“So what do you think?”  Korra looked at her with same innocent gaze as when they’d first met almost four years ago.  Despite all of the ways that she’d changed, there were even more ways that Korra was the same.

 

“It’s just so beautiful.”  Asami pulled her hands from Korra’s and spun around, rustling some of the petals at her feet.  The portal seemed to extend forever into the starless sky.  Starless.  Intrigued she turned to look at Korra. “Korra, why are there no stars?”  
  
Korra raised an eyebrow, chuckling, “Asami, what are you---”  But when she looked up she failed to see stars either.  She stroked her chin and wrinkled the little patch of skin between her eyebrows. “Honestly, every time I’ve been here it’s been on an important mission. I never noticed before.”  

 

Asami laughed.  “You really haven’t changed.”

 

She barked out in response, “What’s that supposed to mean?”  But unable to take herself seriously, Korra soon devolved into laughing too.  

  
  


They walked through to the edge of the violet meadow and could see the mushroom-like mangroves of Xai Bau’s grove.  Asami noticed a crude, aged wooden post at the edge of the area engraved with big, altmodische characters.    
  
“Korra, isn’t this the place that Aiwei and Zaheer would meet?”  
  
Korra smiled, “Yeah, Xai Bau’s grove. One of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in the Spirit World. Iroh told me that the mangroves are connected to the roots of the Tree of Time, he meditates here to commune with his son.”  
  
Asami’s eyes widened, “So he’s able to reach someone who died?”  

 

The realization hit Korra like a ton of rocks, her mood sank. “Asami, I only know from what Iroh mentioned, I don’t know if---”  Before she could finish, a smooth leather glove cupped her cheek. Looking up, she met the piercing of emerald eyes.  

 

“Korra, don’t worry. I’m okay.”  She smiled reassuringly.  “I just want to try. If it doesn’t work, well at least we tried.”    
  
“You’re so hopeful.”

 

Asami grabbed her hand and locked eyes with her, “Korra, you can do anything. You stopped the strongest weapon in history to save someone like Kuvira. You opened the spirit portals. You did all of that without the other Avatars.”  

 

Leading Korra to the base of the largest mangrove in the clearing, she noted the fireflies floating around the branches.  They sat cross-legged against the trunk and closed their eyes. Holding hands, Korra placed her free hand on the trunk of the mangrove and warm yellow light glowed.    
  


“Asami”

 

Asami shook her head and rubbed her eyes, sure she’d heard the voice of her father.

 

“Asami, it’s me.”  
  


Slowly opening her eyes, Asami saw the glowing figure of her father standing in front of her.  He looked considerably younger than when she’d last seen him. His features were no longer gaunt, the tension that plagued his face was absent.  “Dad!”  She stood up and rushed over to Hiroshi.  His whole body had a warm blue glow, much like when Jinora did her astral projection technique.  When she wrapped her arms around him though he was solid, something she could touch, hold, feel. “Dad, thank you for everything. You really saved the day, more than you know.”  Tears collected at her cheeks. “I miss you though. I really do”

 

Hiroshi smiled and patted his daughter lightly on the back. “Asami, don’t cry for me, please.  I knew what I was doing and I’m happy I could do something to ensure a brighter future for my daughter.” Asami pulled back, face full of tears and smiled weakly.  “You have surpassed me in every way Asami and I couldn’t be prouder. I was made for a world in transition, recovery from the 100 Years War.  Asami, you and Korra have done what my generation never was capable of. You have brought Balance.”    Hiroshi looked over Asami’s shoulder to Korra, sitting at the tree trunk, holding her hand against the bark unwavering.

 

Asami pulled back and wiped her cheek, “Dad, how are you here? I didn’t think it was possible to find the dead in the Spirit World?”  
  
Hiroshi pushed a few strands of hair out of her face, “You have surpassed your mother in beauty Asami. Truly.  What you have said is generally true. Few have the spiritual power to transcend the barrier, but Korra has power beyond all others. She called out to me---and your mother.” A slight woman with hair pulled back, two large curls flanking her face walked out from behind one of the nearby trees.  She smiled at Asami and walked over, only to be tackled by her daughter.  
  
Korra’s eyes were closed, but she could feel the emotions occurring mere meters away as a clear as day.  She was adamant about not intruding on Asami’s reunion with her family.  It was true that she loved Asami, but it wasn’t her place to go when not invited.  Her composure broke though when she heard her name called.   
  
“Korra!”  

 

Stirring from her meditation, Korra stood up, keeping her hand firmly on the bark.  Asami, Hiroshi and her mother were walking towards her.  Asami’s usually perfect makeup was slightly smudged from crying, but she looked as beautiful as always. Korra smiled warmly at the trio.

 

“Korra, I can’t thank you enough for this.” Asami ran up and hugged her tightly, nuzzling against her ear.  “Did you know this would work all along?”   
  
Korra shook her head, “Honestly, Iroh told me that being strong spiritually alone isn’t enough. I wasn’t sure, but I hoped. You taught me that.”

 

Hiroshi and Asami’s mother stood arm in arm a few feet away. “Korra”

 

Korra looked, smiling, at the ethereal pair. “Hiroshi.”   
  
“I want to introduce you to my wife, Kiku.”  

 

Korra leaned forward, smiling at the stunningly regal woman before her. “Mrs. Sato, it’s such an absolute pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Likewise Korra.  I have seen all of the amazing things you have done for my daughter over the years and how happy you’ve made her. Nothing has brought me greater joy.”  She walked up to Korra and wrapped her arms around her, hugging tightly.  “Asami has told us the wonderful news.”  
  
Korra blushed wildly, unable to respond coherently to what was just said, “I-uh, We-uh, m-”  

 

Asami laughed, “I think what Korra is trying to say is thank you, mom.”

 

Kiku smiled warmly, “Well you did say sometimes she speaks better with actions than words”

 

Korra glared at Asami, causing her to only laugh harder.  “Okay, in my defense, my main company for the first 17 years of my life was my parents, the White Lotus, and Katara. Not exactly the best for social interaction.”

 

Kiku placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder, “Dear, don’t worry about that.”   She wavered, flashing out of visibility for a moment. “It seems we can’t stay much longer. But you can always come again to see us.”    
  
Korra and Asami grabbed one another’s hands and smiled at the pair.    
  
Kiku and Hiroshi mirrored the gesture. “Asami, we love you more than life itself.  We want nothing more than you to be happy. Never forget that.”   Korra slowly removed her hand from the mangrove. The projections before them started to fade.  Asami pulled Korra into a tight embrace.

 

“Thank you for this, Korra.”

  
  
  


A few days passed and they had traversed the Spirit World to the dense vines surrounding a vast stone building.  The glorious green dome and golden spire shined through the vines.  Asami looked discerningly at the building, trying to determining exactly what they were looking at.  “Korra, what is this place? I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

 

Korra smiled, “Jinora told me about this place. It’s Wan Shi Tong’s library.  Aang and his friends went here during the war, it’s where they learned about the Solar Eclipse.”

 

Asami’s eyes widened, “No way! I remember learning about that in school.” She looked up at the towers.  “I never thought I’d see it with my own eyes.”  They walked through the towering entrance of the library into the murky lighting of the ancient house of knowledge.  

 

Korra let go of her hand and walked out towards the center of the causeway and cupped her hands around her mouth, “Wan Shi Tong, I’ve come with an offering of knowledge.”  Asami was puzzled, but then heard large wings beating in the distance. A truly massive owl-like spirit emerged from the inky shadows and landed harshly on the marble, shaking dust from the railings.  

 

“Avatar, I’m impressed you actually took spiritual etiquette into account this time.  I must say that’s a marked improvement on your predecessors. The airbender boy was here for selfish reasons.”

 

Korra shook off the insult aimed at Aang and smiled at the towering owl-dragon.  She pulled off her rucksack and opened the clasp, pulling out a small, bound book, a glistening golden charm, vial of silvery liquid, and rolled up poster.  
  
Wan Shi Tong extended his neck and looked discerningly at the four items.  “What have you brought me, Avatar? I’m intrigued. These seem like such odd offerings.”

 

Korra turned and smiled at Asami before turning back to Wan Shi Tong and the items.  “Wan Shi Tong, what I’ve brought are items that have uniquely represented my journey as an Avatar thus far.”  She picked up the poster and unrolled it, revealing an image of Amon.  “Amon made me realize that there were issues in this world I wasn’t aware of, people who I wasn’t acting as a leader for and that there was an injustice that needed to be addressed.”   The spirit blinked and looked at the next item.  “This is a book of Water Tribe spiritual knowledge that was given to me by Desna and Eska after Harmonic convergence.  Unalaq did many terrible things, but he allowed me to reopen the world to the spirits.”   

 

Asami walked up to Korra and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she picked up the small golden pendant.  “This is a pendant of Guru Laghima.  He was the idol of Zaheer, an anarchist who was given airbending by the Harmonic Convergence. Zaheer idolized freedom above all else and sought to rid the world of dictators.  His methods were extreme, but his goal was true.”

 

Korra looked hard at the small ampoule sitting in her hand. She looked back at Asami, hugged her tightly and turned to face Wan Shi Tong.   
  
“What is this last token, Avatar?”   
  
Korra rolled the glass ampoule around in her hand.  “This is a vial of mercury. The metal poison that the Red Lotus tried to kill me with, but it also represents Kuvira to me.  Kuvira tried to unite the Earth Nation after it fell to shambles, but she faltered and let her weakness dominate her, just like I let the poison act as a crutch for my own failings.  I’ve finally come to peace with what happened though and I am able to see what she was feeling.  This serves as a reminder to me of where I came from.”  

 

Wan Shi Tong lurched forward and called out for his servants, the knowledge spirits.  Asami noticed the grizzled, small coyote spirits come out from beneath the owl-dragon’s wings and picked up each of the items gingerly before dashing down corridors to find a new home for the items.   The spirit’s booming voice echoed as he spoke to Korra, “You have truly put a great deal of thought into these offerings and their meaning does nothing but add to their value.  I thank you for contributing such wonderful pieces to my library.  You and your partner may look at whatever you wish.  My knowledge is yours.”  Finishing his statement, he bowed slightly to Korra before disappearing into the darkness once again.  

 

Asami could do nothing but smile at Korra, “That was amazing Korra.”   They hugged before walking down the longest corridor.  In a few minutes, they reached a large, circular room. It was dark, but Korra illuminated a small area with a flame in her hand. “What is this room? It doesn’t seem to go anywhere else.”  

 

Asami felt a furry body brushed past her leg.  One of the knowledge spirits.  Korra spun around as she heard the sound of stone grinding on stone.  The spirit had pressed a floor switch, illuminating the giant room.  Korra and Asami audibly made gasped slightly.   It was beautiful.  A planetarium, a huge one at that.  There was an enormous dial in the center of the room.  Asami walked over to the polished pewter and placed a hand on the engraved characters.    
  
“Korra, it’s like a calendar. A huge calendar.  Era, Age, Year, Month, Day, Hour.”

 

They spent hours playing with the dials and following the different alignments of the heavens until Korra settled finally on the Harmonic Convergence.  The walls of the planetarium illuminated with a warm purple and pink glow.   Asami looked at Korra and smiled.  They leaned in sitting on the floor of the planetarium and kissed.   Laying down they looked up as the pink and purple faded to reveal stars projected onto obsidian walls.   

 

“I guess they do have stars in the Spirit World.”

 

They pulled each other into a warm embrace and faded into sleep.

 

 


End file.
